To be a Tomboy
by ellf
Summary: Ranma and Akane are about to have a change come into their lives. (SMRanma Cross)


Disclaimer: This story is based upon the original characters and story ideas of Naoko Takeuchi and Rumiko Takahashi. All other characters that are not a product of these two authors are also completely fictional. Any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Author's beginning notes: I know that this is one of the longest chapters that I have ever written, for any of my fics. I'm trying a new planning approach for writing fanfiction, and this approach, if successful will be used for writing all of my fanfiction except "The Wild Villain." Inspiration for this piece of fanfiction was drawn from "Destiny's Child" by Fire"Paragon" by Kenko, and the "Sailor Ranko" series started by Fire and continued by Burgerbill. (Keep on writing, Bill, we all love your work.) This also drew inspiration from the good people at the Temple of Ranma's Senshi Seifuku forum So anyways, submitted for your (The readers) approval, here is my Ranma in a fuku fanfic:  
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To be a Tomboy  
By: Ellf  
Chapter One: The Outer Senshi  
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Within a traditional martial arts dojo several wedding decorations laid ruined around it. Lying on the ground was an unconscious fair red-headed girl with her hair in a pigtail. She was wearing a white tuxedo that seemed to be too large for her and shoes that were two sizes too big. She moaned in her nothingness and slowly moved her arms. Clearly her dreams were troubled. This girl was none other than Saotome Ranma.

Suddenly, her eyes shot open, and she bounded to her feet. She held her head and moaned again.

_'What hit me? Oh, right a Happo Dai Karin. Why can't those idiots ever leave us alone?'_

Ranma slowly walked around the dojo, pausing to glance at the carnage left in the wedding attempt's wake. She passed close to the destroyed wedding cake and sighed.

_'That was supposed ta be mine and Akane's, but it had ta be ruined by all o' them.'_

Ranma passed by an empty sake cask lying on the ground. She picked it up and examined it closely; Ranma turned the cask so that the top of it would be above her, nary a drop came out of it. She threw it to the ground and it crashed and splintered into bits. The label came off of it, and could easily be read. It said: "Nannichuan."

_'My cure, at least it was supposed ta be. Now I'll never know if it woulda worked or not. Mousse, Ryoga, even Oyaji, they all were fightin' over that bottle. If only they woulda known that I was gonna share it. Maybe it's for the best; I'm not that disappointed about losing my cure. The curse even helped me out a bit at times.'_

Ranma passed by a scorch mark on the floor. She sighed as she remembered how it got there.

_"Aiyah! Shampoo exploding food miss Akane!" The purple haired Amazon exclaimed. The brown haired chef reached in her bag. ___

"Just you wait Ranchan; I've got some more Special okonomiyaki for you!"

And then the Kunos showed up and Happosai drank her cure and… Ranma shook her head to get the images out of it. Why had their parents set up the wedding so soon after they got back from China?

_''s not like I love the kawaiikune otemba anyways… Erm… maybe it is. I still never said it.'_

Ranma remembered back to what happened in China.

_He held her in his arms, she was so cold. Her eyes were closed as he put her in the magic water, the water that was supposed to return her to life. He lifted her up, tears were in his face. ___

"Come back Akane! I never got to tell you…" and then her eyes were open. She muttered softly, "Ranma no baka…" before passing out again. Ranma knew that she would live.

Back in the dojo Ranma shook her head to clear the images from it once more. She slowly walks to the center of the dojo and begins to do katas. As she goes faster and faster more images float through her head.

_"Akane is my fiancée, touch her and I'll kill you!" ___

"I like you the way you are Ranma."

"Hi, I'm Akane, want to be friends?"

The katas went faster and faster as the images became more intense.

_"Maybe next time we can do it with the tape off." ___

"Ranma, did you really mean that?"

Akane smiling.

Akane smiling

Damn, she's smiling again. 

Ranma broke off her katas and punched the ground as hard as she could, cracking the boards in a thirty foot radius circle around the center.

_'I do love her. I just can't seem to tell her. Why is that?'_

Ranma began to bang her head upon the wall of the dojo. With each hit, she cried out "Why?"

Finally she hit her head so hard that a hole formed in the wall of the dojo and she screamed, "WHY?" She collapsed to the ground, tears pooling at the edge of her eyes, and she cried out.

"Why can't I say it?"

"Say what, Ranma-kun?" Standing at the door to the dojo was Kasumi, the ever-peaceful elder sister of Akane. Ranma looked up at her from the ground and quickly wiped the tears from her own eyes.

"N-n-nothing Kasumi." Kasumi knew something had to be wrong with Ranma; she never came this close to crying. Except around cats. Cute little kitty cats, how could anyone be afraid of them? Genma-ojisan went too far in training Ranma in that technique. Wait Ranma looked hurt now.

"Ranma-kun are you alright?"

"'m fine Kasumi. Don't worry about me. How's Akane doing?" Kasumi was glad that Ranma was asking about Akane, maybe this engagement would work out between them after all. Kasumi smiled at Ranma, he was such a nice boy, perfect for her sister. That, and he was half-girl.

"Akane's fine. She's in her room right now; would you like me to get her for you?"

"Nah, Kasumi, I've gotta go up there anyways. Time for me to face the music."

"Alright, I'll just go make you some dinner then." Kasumi headed off in the direction of the kitchen while Ranma moseyed her way into the house and up the stairs. She walked down the hallway and stopped in front of the door with the duck nameplate on it, the one that read "Akane" in English lettering.

A black-haired girl dressed in a Western style wedding dress laid upon a cushy bed with tears running down her face. She repeatedly hit her pillow one blow after another. Why did they have to come? Why couldn't they leave her with Ranma in peace? Akane continued to hit the pillow. They had to show up and ruin the one day where everything was supposed to go right, and they hurt her Ranma.

_'When did he become my Ranma?' ___

She was so scared, she came so close to dying, but then she heard him call her name. She had to come back; she wanted to come back, for his sake. She loved him, and she could feel that he loved her. Besides, something told her she wasn't done with life yet.

'Oh, right. Then."

She sat up on her bed and gazed at the photograph on her side table. She had kept the picture frame that he gave her the Christmas before. Unfortunately, the only picture that they had with her and Ranma together didn't even have her close to him. He was standing next to Ukyo and Shampoo. Her eyes welled up with tears again.

_'How could he love me anyways? I'm just an uncute, sexless tomboy anyways, but… I know he said it…' ___

She had arrived carried on the back of a panda. Akane couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl; she looked so afraid. She fought off the odd feeling of attraction to the girl and walked up to her.

"Hi, I'm Akane, want to be friends?"

Her heart fluttered as the redhead nodded.

'Oh… Ranma, forgive me… I've been such a fool.'

Akane started to sob once more. She couldn't figure out why her feelings felt stronger when she was around the female Ranma rather than the male Ranma. Though, no matter what form she was in, Ranma was Ranma.

_'He, Ranma's a boy, not a girl, but I can't help thinking of her as a girl rather than a boy. Every time I picture Ranma in my head, she's Onna-Ranma, but sometimes it's Otoko-Ranma as well. Only sometimes.'_

Akane's musings were interrupted by a knocking on her room's door. A cute female voice came from outside of the door.

"Akane? Are you alright? It's me, Ranma."

_'Ranma? No, I'm not alright; I want you to come in here you oblivious baka."_

"I'll be fine Ranma. I just wish that…"

"I know 'kane, I know. They shouldn'ta come. You sure you're alright?"

Akane wanted to open the door and glomp onto Ranma herself and show her that she loved her. However, Akane forced that urge down; she strained herself to be calm.

"I'm sure Ranma. I'll be fine."

"Can I come in?"

_'Yes! Please do come in Ranma! I want you in here; I want to see you, to cry on your shoulder, to hug you, to show you my love.'_

"I said I'm fine Ranma, you don't need to come in here. You should go take a bath, I'm sure you need to wash off and change your clothes. Those bombs did a lot of damage."

Outside the door, Ranma sighed. She wanted to comfort Akane, but she knew that her fiancée was right.

"If you're certain Akane."

Inside the room, Akane had tears running down her face as she struggled to keep herself calm and to keep herself from opening the door.

"I am, Ranma. Now go take your bath."

"Alright… Akane…chan…"

Akane's heart quivered in her chest.

_'He called me Akane-chan'_

A smile plastered itself across her face as she sighed a loving sigh.

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Ranma made her way to the furohide for her bath. Ranma took off her clothes in the changing room; she heated up the water in the furo and filled up her water bucket. Once it was full, Ranma dumped the water bucket on her and washed herself off. She then laid her body down in the now warm furo and felt the change overcome her. Her body grew a few inches, Ranma's hair changed from red to black, and she became a he. He leaned further back in the furo and stretched out his body.

_'Figures that Akane would be mad. She usually is; at least this time her rage isn't towards me. Oyaji is going to get a beating because of this; he arranged the wedding and then helped to ruin it.'_

Ranma rose from the furo and toweled his body off. He put on his normal clothing and headed outside. He looked up at the roof of the house and nodded. Ranma bent his knees a little, tensed the muscles in his legs, and vaulted to the roof. He laid down and began to think.

"Why'd they have ta do that? Not that I wanted to get married to that tomboy anyways, but still… They shouldn'ta come ta ruin a wedding. Especially if they were invited guests. Though, it kinda was stupid to put them on the guest list. Damn Oyaji. Damn Ryoga. Damn Mousse. Damn Shampoo. Damn Ukyo. Damn Happosai. They all helped to ruin what was supposed ta be the happiest day of my life. Not that I wanted it."

Ranma grumbled a bit before continuing. "Knocking me out to put me in a tuxedo… Ridiculous. Oyaji and Tendo-san really screwed up this time. I went ta see Akane hopin' she'd be alright, and damn, she was better than alright. 'm glad Akane wasn't hurt ta be put in that Western wedding dress. I swear my eyes were bugging right out of my head at how good that 'uncute tomboy' looked in that dress. Then she tells me 'bout the Nannichuan. I go out to find it and what happens? The bakas go to town on me and try ta hurt Akane in the process.

"I don't mind them attacking me, but if they'da harmed one hair on Akane's head… I probably woulda snapped. They'd all get a taste of what I did to Saffron. Hell, Happosai may still get a taste."

Ranma gazed up at the night sky and sighed. "I guess I do wanna marry Akane after all. I l..l..lo… damn it! I know how I feel about her! She means the world to me. I KILLED for her! I killed a fucking godling to save her life. Ya think the bakas would get a clue. I KILLED to save Akane! That alone should say something about how I feel about her. I would willingly sacrifice my life for hers. I love her, and she… she probably hates me. I've been such a jerk."

Ranma cocked his head up as a gasp sounded from behind him. He turned around to see Akane, dressed in her pajamas up on the roof with him.

"I don't hate you Ranma. After what you've done for me, I could never hate you. Quite the opposite actually. Honestly, why would you think I hate you?"

"Because I'm a loudmouth jerk, I'm arrogant and a 'womanizer' and-"

"And thoughtful, and honorable, and an all around great person. Sure you may be arrogant, but with Genma-ojisan as your father, you kinda would have to be. As for the 'womanizer' part… I'm not gonna share you with anyone else. You are mine Ranma Saotome. Today may not be the day where we get married, but one day we will."

Ranma smiled at that and unconsciously agreed. They would get married someday, a day when they were ready. Akane laid down next to him, and they continued to talk about their future and about each other. This was the first time the two were able to speak with each other without anyone interrupting them, and oddly enough, Ranma did not stick his foot in his mouth at all, nor did Akane lose her temper. If one looked closely enough, one could see the faint outline of the sign of Neptune glowing on Akane's forehead, and the sign of Uranus, just as faint on Ranma's forehead. As the pair fell asleep, they instinctively snuggled up to one another, and yes, they did fall asleep on the roof.

Sailor Pluto smiled as she watched the scene in the Gates of Time. It would be best to let the two of them come together on their own rather than forcing it upon them, though soon it would be time for them to awaken as Senshi, for the two would be needed in the upcoming battle. It was odd that Uranus was reborn as a man, but then, she always was the more masculine of the pair. All it took was a little meddling; a dropping of a manual of training grounds, and Ranma would be able to rise to his/her full potential. Now it was time to get working on writing the fake records, and to make sure that she showed up at the right time tomorrow night.

The sun rose over the Tendo household the following morning, and on the roof the sleeping forms of Ranma and Akane began to stir quietly. First Ranma began to awake from his deep slumber. His eyes widened as he saw where he was.

_'Shit, I'm next to Akane! How'd I get here? She's going to murder me when she finds out! Damn, but she looks kawaii while she's asleep. I'm screwed; I'm completely and totally screwed. Might as well enjoy it while I can.'_

Akane began to stir. As her eyes opened they locked directly upon Ranma's. Ranma couldn't help himself at all. He spoke with a tone of awe in his voice.

"Good morning, kawaii-chan."

At first Akane began to well up with rage, but then she caught the words that left Ranma's mouth; her anger popped out of existence like a bubble. She smiled and her eyes lit up with joy.

"Good morning, baka-chan."

Ranma stretched as Akane left the comfort of his arms.

"Looks like we fell asleep on the roof, Ranma."

Ranma blinked and looked around. He rose to a sitting position and nodded.

"I guess you're right, Akane. Need any help getting down?" 

Akane nodded and replied, "Someone took the ladder away."

Ranma scooped his fiancée up into his arms and smiled in her face. He walked to the edge of the roof to judge the distance, and simply sprung from the roof onto the ground, keeping Akane in his arms the whole time. He carefully placed Akane down from his arms onto her feet.

"Y'know Akane, I think I'm gonna use the dojo for a while."

"I'm coming with you Ranma."

As the two headed for the dojo, they noticed that it was a lot cleaner than it was the day before after the disaster of their wedding had finished. Obviously Kasumi had gone through there and cleaned up the place. Ranma walked to the center of the dojo and began to stretch. Akane, somehow now clothed in her gi and headband also began to stretch. After Ranma finished stretching, he began performing an intricate kata. Akane gazed on with awe; it was like watching a dance, a violent dance, but a dance nonetheless. She stood there, speechless while watching her fiancé. As Ranma's kata came to a conclusion, he wiped the sweat off of his brow and glanced at his frozen iinazukee. He waved his hand in front of her face.

"Yo, you awake 'kane?"

Akane blinked… "Huh..? Wha..?" A line of drool leaked out the side of her mouth. She blinked again, wiped it off and began to blush. Ranma began to snicker, and Akane's face began to redden more, but this time from anger.

"RANMA!"

Ranma began to back slowly away from Akane. "S-s-sorry Akane… it's just the image of you that clueless…"

Akane reddened even more and then… began to giggle. "I guess you're right Ranma, I probably did look pretty stupid." She caught her breath. "But, if you laugh at me again…" She let that statement hang as she slowly pulled out her mallet, dubiously named mallet-sama by several fanfiction authors, thus that term will be used here, even if it is not the official name for it. Mallet-sama easily punctuated her point as Ranma gulped and nodded.

"Good. Now, I should start practicing too." Akane smiled at Ranma, obviously very happy with him. The smile, as always, made Ranma's heart skip a few beats. This was the girl that he was going to marry, and no one could change his mind about it. Not the Amazons, not Ukyo, not his father, not even his mother would change his decision. The only problem is that his father would agree with his decision. Oh well, even Ranma Saotome can't win them all. Akane decided that she'd do some of the kata that she had learned when she was little, to work on the basics a bit. Ranma stood off to the side and watched. Akane knew the basics alright, but her movements were too jerky… too… forced one could say. He walked over to the fire pail that was conveniently located at the dojo's door and upended its contents over his head. She had to be a girl to show Akane what was going wrong with her kata. Akane drew to the conclusion of her form and glanced at her fiancé.

"Well?"

"Very nice, Akane… But, you need to relax a little bit more. Your movements were too jerky. They seemed like you were forcing them, not letting them flow. This is what you looked like."

Ranma did the first few movements of the kata in slow motion, attempting to perform every nuance that Akane did in hers.

"I'm not trying to make fun of you or anything; technically that was a very good performance of the kata, but I think you wanted to do it like this."

Ranma began her kata again, this time the movements seemed to flow through each other like water would flow down a river or like air would blow across the water. Akane gasped as she realized Ranma was right. She almost began to daze off as she watched her currently female fiancé perform the kata with such grace, but she forced herself to pay attention to her fiancé's beautiful body and watch how she performed the kata that Akane herself was supposed to perform.

"Now you try, Akane, and remember, relax." Ranma stood off to the side again as she watched her fiancée perform the kata again. This time the movements were less forced, but they still carried the feeling of not being calm.

"Better Akane, but you still seem disturbed. You need to calm yourself down."

"I know what would calm me down." Akane said as she approached Ranma. She got up close to her face. Ranma started to become a bit flustered.

"W-w-what w-would that be, A-akane?"

Akane's voice dropped down to a whisper. "This would, baka…" She grabbed the smaller girl's head and began to kiss her furiously. Their auras mixed together and a flash of light filled the room for a second, and suddenly it wasn't a black-haired girl kissing a red-head, but a blue-green haired girl kissing a taller, blonde-haired girl that looked almost like a boy. There was another flash of light and Akane broke off the kiss from Ranma who, once again was a redhead, and shorter than Akane.

"I think that I'm relaxed enough to perform that kata now."

She walked off into the center of the dojo again, leaving her fiancé with a silly smile upon her face. Akane did the kata with no flaws this time, and as she executed the moves, Ranma slowly came out of her kiss induced stupor. She watched the flawless implementation of the kata done by her fiancée and grinned widely. As Akane finished, Ranma kissed her once more, not quite as long as the last one, but still of a good length.

"Time for brea- Oh, my!" Kasumi had walked in to tell the two that it was time for breakfast, but saw that they were kissing. She didn't know that her little sister swung that way, but perhaps Ranma was perfect for her then. The two fiancées finished up their kiss and then noticed Kasumi standing there in the doorway. Immediately they pushed away from each other and blushed profoundly. Kasumi smiled a knowing smile at the young couple.

"Time for breakfast you two. Akane, would you help me in the kitchen to bring it out?" Akane nodded. "Ranma, I can't seem to find our fathers anywhere, could you look for them please?"

"I'll get Oyaji and yer dad, I bet they got themselves drunk last night and they prob'ly are holed up somewhere."

As Akane followed Kasumi into the house, Ranma set out to seek Genma and Soun. She decided to check outside the front gate, and, sure enough, an unconscious panda and a long-haired man with a moustache were lying outside in a pushcart. Ranma "tsked" as she looked over the two men, and then got an evil smirk that looked out of place on her sweet little face. She sucked in a large breath of air and…

"WAKE UP!"

Both Soun and Genma's eyes shot open like rockets and they leapt at least four feet in the air from their laying position. Now, I doubt that anyone has seen a panda leap up from a laying position while having a forty year-old man laying upon it, and since, needless to say, the two weren't in the best of minds, they fell to the ground in a heap. Ranma broke out into a series of guffaws that slowly angered her father who currently was on top of Soun.

"GROWF!" "How dare you do something like that to your father?"-flip-"Ungrateful boy!"

Meanwhile a moan came from beneath the panda.

"Um… Saotome-kun, you are quite heavy."

This caused another series of guffaws to come from Ranma, she was laughing so hard that one ended up sounding like a giggle. That immediately shut her up. Then she looked at her father and Soun and decided to hell with it, she giggled like crazy. Genma slowly rose to all fours and Soun slid out from under the furry oaf. Ranma seemed to regain her composure, but not by much.

"K-(snicker)-Kasumi sent me to (snicker) find the two of ya ta tell ya that its time fer breakfast."

Genma raised another sign. "Oh, my aching head…"-flip-"Tell Kasumi we'll be inside in a minute"-flip-(This one was aimed at Soun) "Are you alright, Tendo-kun?"

Soun nodded at the panda. "I'll be fine." He glanced at Ranma. "Now son, your father and I will be inside in a minute."

Ranma nodded and walked inside, trying to keep from laughing. Those two looked hilarious.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Kasumi and Akane started to gather the food to bring out to the table. There was a large spread of food this morning. Eggs, rice, bacon, sausage, and tea; all of these were carried out by the two sisters. Akane then had a spark of inspiration come to her eye as she walked back to the kitchen; she smiled evilly.

"Kasumi, do you think that I could cook something for Nabiki specifically to eat?"

Kasumi blinked. Everyone knew how bad Akane was at cooking. At least she wasn't thinking of cooking for everyone. Usually she decides to cook for Ranma and no one else. This time, however, she was asking to cook for Nabiki. Kasumi guessed that this was her punishment for helping to ruin the wedding.

"What are you planning on cooking, imouto-chan?"

"Oh, something simple, eggs should do the trick for Nabiki's breakfast."

"Nah, that's not punishment fit for the crime, 'kane, cook her lunch too."

Kasumi and Akane turned their heads in the direction the sound came from and found a grinning redhead staring back at them. Ranma walked over to the stove which had two kettles on it. She peered inside one, grabbed the other, and poured its contents over her head. She gained a few inches as the curse deactivated and she became male. Ranma smiled again.

"Oyaji and yer father are on their way in. They obviously were drinking last night. Drinking a lot."

Kasumi tittered as she walked out into the dining room to set the table. Akane finished up what she was doing in the kitchen and strolled out into the dining room to set Nabiki's place. By the time this happened, both Genma and Soun were sitting at the table, awaiting their meal. Kasumi glanced at the clock and gasped.

"Oh my! It's almost time for school. Ranma, would you mind going to wake up Nabiki for me?"

"No problem, Kasumi."

Ranma climbed the stairs and walked to Nabiki's door. As he reached her door he rapped on it lightly with the back of his hand. A muffled moan could be heard coming from within the room.

"Wakey, wakey, Nabiki…"

"Nnnnnnn…"

Ranma smirked as he opened the door slightly, and tip-toed into Nabiki's room.

If this worked on Oyaji and Tendo-san, then it'll probably work on Nabiki too.

Ranma whispered into Nabiki's ear.

"Hey, Nabiki, time to-" Ranma smirked as he raised the volume of his voice without moving his head away from Nabiki's ear, "WAKE UP!"

Nabiki's eyes shot open and she looked over and saw Ranma. Unlike her father and Ranma's, she was a bit more coherent.

"Huh?" Okay, maybe she was a little less coherent. She blinked a couple of times, and then her normal demeanor returned to her. "What are you doing in here, Saotome?"

"Kasumi said to tell you that it was time for breakfast." Ranma looked down and saw where his hand was resting. He began to turn red and pulled his hand away from Nabiki's breast like it was on fire.

"Ranma, Ranma, Ranma, now what would my sister say if she saw you trying to seduce me?"

"B-b-but I wasn't try-"

"It will cost you ten thousand yen for my silence."

Ranma grumbled as he handed over the money.

_Even when I'm trying to get my revenge on her, she finds a way to swindle me out of my money._

"Anyways, come down for breakfast."

"I'll be down in a minute Ranma-kun."

Ranma walked down the stairs while grumbling the whole time. He sat down to eat his food. A few minutes later, Nabiki came down as well, in her school uniform. Ranma stifled a laugh as Nabiki started to eat and turned a little green.

"Kasumi, I think these eggs are spoiled."

"My, but I didn't cook that… Akane did."

Nabiki spit the food out of her mouth at that, grabbed her schoolbag and quickly head off to school. Shortly afterwards both Ranma and Akane began to snicker, then chuckle, finally they were laughing hysterically. After two minutes, they calmed down, and then Akane paled.

"Oh no, we're going to be late for school!"

"Crap. Let's go Akane!"

The pair grabbed their schoolbags and began to race towards Furinkan High School. Unlike his normal route of travel, Ranma ran next to Akane on the ground. Akane glanced towards Ranma and smiled. He was actually running next to her for once. Suddenly, the damnable ringing of a bike bell could be heard.

"Nihao!" A purple-haired busty Chinese Amazon named Shampoo had glomped onto Ranma, leaping from her bike to do so. "Shampoo too too glad to see Airen. Airen want go on date with Shampoo."

Ranma's face began to contort with rage as he was being rubbed by Shampoo. Unfortunately, the only thing that he could do to get out of it would ruin his chances with Akane even more then they already were. As it were, a hot blue aura of anger shrouded Ranma within the Amazon's grasp.

Akane, watching the scene, began to follow her normal protocol and get angry at Ranma. (Forever known as the "It's all Ranma's fault" complex.) However, the kiss that they shared this morning allowed her to stay calm long enough to see how angry Ranma was with Shampoo. Suddenly her own aura flared as she called out her battle cry:

"SHAMPOO NO BAKA!" SLAM! Akane had in one fell swoop pulled out mallet-sama and sent the amorous Amazon flying in the direction of the Nekohanten. "AND TAKE YOUR BIKE WITH YOU!" She threw the bike like a discus after Shampoo. Akane then offered her hand towards Ranma and helped him to his feet. Both seemed a bit calmer, and a slight blush began forming on the young couple's cheeks.

"Yeah, um… Thanks Akane. Not that I couldn't have gotten out of her grasp at any time you know…"

"Oh really…" She checked her watch. "Ranma we don't have time for this, we're going to be late!"

The two began to approach the gates of Furinkan High at top speed, just in time to see the boys of the Hentai Horde gathered around Tatewaki Kuno.

"At last, I, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, hath defeated the vile sorcerer who hath kept both the fierce tigress Akane Tendo and the beauteous pigtailed girl enslaved to him, the vile demon Saotome! Now I, Tatewaki Kuno do reinstate the decree that any person who wishes to date Akane Tendo must defeat her in combat with the addition of the pigtailed girl as well!"

A cheer rose up from the surrounding males of the Hentai Horde, and they got into place to attack Akane as she came in. Unfortunately for them, while they were listening to Kuno's rant, Akane had already gotten to her seat. Ranma however had decided to stay behind.

"Oi! Kuno! I don't remember you ever defeating me!"

"Vile demon! Thou dost dare to show thine face at these hollowed grounds after the Blue Thunder hath smoten you?"

Ranma blinked as he tried to decipher the Kuno-speak and then smirked. "Funny, I think I would remember being 'smoten'."

"Saotome prepare to die! Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!" Kuno pulled out his bokken and began his classic attack. Ranma, of course, dodged every strike.

"Jeeze, Kuno, you really haven't learned anything new? I can defeat you-" Ranma lunged in close. "just-" He struck the kendoist in the jaw. "like-" He followed that up with a punch to the side of Kuno's face. "this!" He finished the combo with an uppercut that knocked Kuno into the schools on-site pool. Ranma walked away, shaking his head.

"That baka never learns." He headed in towards his classroom where the teacher had already begun the lesson. Ranma cursed under his breath as he attempted to take his seat without being noticed.

Without looking up, Daiboku-sensei said, "Saotome. Buckets. Hall. Now."

Ranma sighed in defeat. "How long this time?"

"Since it was only Kuno, five minutes, then I expect you to be back in here."

"Hai, sensei." Ranma went and served his sentence. When he returned to his seat, rather than falling asleep as he usually did, he made a conscious effort to stay awake for the lesson. This caused a bout of whispering to break out through the class, at least until Hinako-sensei entered the room. The English Teacher of Furinkan was in her adult form at the moment due to having the battle fish nearby. She smiled and began to teach, happy that for once, Ranma had decided to stay awake for her lesson. Then she wouldn't have to punish him for being a delinquent. Hinako-sensei wrote a sentence in English on the board, and then asked the class for a volunteer to read it to the rest of the class. No one volunteered, so she decided to pick out Ranma to do the honors.

Ranma, who was actually paying attention for once, got up and walked to the board. The words he spoke in English were with an American accent. "Let's see here… 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away' heh, yeah right. No amount of apples could prevent me from seeing the Doc when I need ta."

"I'm sorry Ranma, that's… right?" Hinako-sensei was confused at this development. Ranma had answered a question right. "Saotome-san, congratulations on getting the answer right, please return to your seat."

More whispers began to circulate the classroom. Hinako-sensei wasn't the only one who was surprised that Ranma answered the question correctly. Akane, on the other hand, was oddly unsurprised, and that was surprising to her. Class from that point seemed to drag on, ever so slowly, until it was finally lunchtime. Rather than pulling his usual jumping out the window maneuver, Ranma walked over to Akane.

"Akane, ya wanna eat lunch with me?"

"Sure thing, Ranma!" Akane smiled at Ranma, and he felt his heart melt not for the first time that day. As the two went outside, Ukyo approached the pair.

"Ranchan! Akane-chan, would the two of you like some lunch?"

Ranma joined Akane in glaring at Ukyo and said, "Don't you think you've done enough?" Ranma lead Akane to his favorite lunch spot and the two sat down. Ukyo was shocked to see the way Ranma was acting towards Akane. The two were obliviously eating and talking quietly, without arguing.

The ringing of a bicycle bell followed by a loud "NIHAO!" announced the arrival of Shampoo to the school. By this time, Ranma had picked up Akane and leapt to the roof. The busty Amazon looked around, not seeing Ranma, she rode off. Ranma hopped back to where he was sitting and continued to eat.

"Saotome, you cur! How dare you eat with the fierce tigress Akane Tendo! Thou shalt feel the wrath of my righteous blade!"

Ranma snorted as Akane got up and shouted her battle cry.

"DRY UP AND DIE KUNO!" Akane launched Kuno into the side of the building. Unfortunately for Ranma, Kuno had been holding a glass of water which splashed onto him as Kuno flew away, turning him into his cursed form.

"Aww, and I had been without changing since this morning. Hold on 'kane, I'm gonna go get some hot water."

"Hurry back Ranma, lunch is almost over."

Ranma smirked at Akane as she gave a thumbs up. She took off looking for some hot water. While Ranma was waiting at a stand, she was disturbed by a certain someone hugging her very tightly.

"Oh, my pigtailed goddess! Thou hast come to declare thy love for me!"

If Ranma was angry when it was Shampoo hugging her, then she was PISSED now. How dare Kuno grab her! Oh no, he did not just grab her there! Ranma's red aura was now in full manifestation, surrounding her and Kuno, and a radius of about three feet from her. Oh, Kuno was going to get it. Ranma spoke, her cool, calm, collected voice contrasting the aura surrounding her.

"Mouko Takabisha revised: Pervert Crusher." A ball of red ki formed in the area between Ranma and Kuno, pushing him off of her as it grew. Ranma smirked as she released the ki ball that was the size of her body and it headed on a straight path towards Kuno, digging into the ground as it did so. The samurai wanna-be flew through eight walls before the ball of ki dissipated. By that time Ranma had gotten his hot water and went to class.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Kuno left Ranma alone for the day, and Ranma ignored Ukyo in class, favoring paying attention to the teacher instead. The walk home was similar to school after lunch, save for the fact that Ranma had gotten splashed while she and Akane were walking home, by the ladle lady who had missed Ranma this morning due to her heart checkup.

Ranma's mother, Nodoka Saotome, had arrived at the Tendo home around noon, and both she and Kasumi had been cleaning the house ever since. Nodoka was unhappy with the results of the wedding attempt yesterday and had come to the conclusion that her son, though he was manly, perhaps was a bit too manly. She had also made the observation that Ranma was in love with Akane, and that she reciprocated the feeling. The decision that resulted from this was to stop pushing the two together, for the two would just push right back and end up pushing away from one another. As for keeping the fathers in line, well, her katana could do that. However, it would be best if both children got a new start, which is what she spoke about to her friend Setsuna Meiou, the guidance councilor at Juuban High School, the night before about. If anyone could help the two find a place where they could get a fresh beginning, Setsuna could.

Kasumi smiled as she continued to clean, heading into Ranma and Genma's room. She found some oil stains on some of Ranma's clothing and made a mental note to tell him if he was going to the race tracks to make sure to wear his protective gear when he drove. Kasumi was a bit afraid of getting in the car with Ranma; he drove unnervingly fast, but she could not deny that she was safe. With Ranma's martial arts training, he could avoid most accidents that others could not. He kept himself and the others on the road as safe as he could while going fast. That was why whenever Kasumi needed to go somewhere out of town, she asked Ranma to come with her. Kasumi had a smile on her face as she began the laundry.

Genma and Soun, well the two were playing their favorite game: shogi. It was impossible to tell who was winning between the two, for they would change that fact in only a few seconds. It is obvious why: the two were cheating. While they played, the two spoke with each other.

"Tendo-kun, we need to find a way to make the boy marry your girl, Akane."

"Indeed, Saotome-kun, but how to do it?"

"Yes, the wedding attempt yesterday was, at best, horrible."

"Too true, Tendo, too true I'll try to get the boy to settle things with the Kuonji girl and the Amazon and we'll have another wedding prepared." Of course, Genma neglected to say his involvement with the Kuonji engagement… "All things passed to the boy", that was Genma's philosophy. What Genma did not realize was that his wife was standing right behind him as he said that. Only the sound of her katana unsheathing alerted him to her presence. 

"Now, dearest, don't I get a say in our son's future plans? Or better yet, doesn't Ranma?"

"B-but, No-chan…"

"Don't you "But No-chan" me. We shall let the children decide on their wedding date. Understood Genma?"

"Yes Dear."

At that moment the sound of a grumbling redhead and a slightly snickering, consoling brunette came from outside the shoji.

"She never misses, does she?"

"Well, she didn't get you this morning."

"I didn't even see her this morning; she was late washing her sidewalk today."

"I guess you're right, Ranma. We're home!"

"In here!" was the call from Kasumi, which was soon echoed by Nodoka. When the girls reached the room that Nodoka was in, they greeted everyone, and Ranma was handed a kettle.

"Thank you, Kasumi."

"It was no problem at all, Ranma." Ranma upended the kettle over her head and shuddered as the change overcame her, transforming her into his natural form. Ranma then headed towards the dojo to do some practice, followed by Akane.

"Hey Akane…"

"Yes Ranma?"

"I wanted ta ask ya if after dinner tonight, ya wanted to I dunno, maybe walk around the town and see if we can find somthin' ta do."

"You mean, like a date?"

Ranma blushed at that. "Not really a date, because then it would get int- inter- interu…"

"Interrupted?"

"Yeah, that's the word. I was thinkin' we'd roof hop around for a while."

"Ranma, you know I can't roof hop."

Ranma's blush deepened. "I thought I'd… erm… carry ya."

Akane began to have a blush form on her face as well. "Trying to cop a feel, eh Ranma?"

Ranma broke down to incoherent babbling from there, and Akane shrugged at the fact so she began her workout. Ranma snapped out of it and began to perform several advanced katas. The two kept at it until they were called in for dinner by Kasumi.

Dinner was relatively peaceful as Genma was worried about his wife and Happosai was not anywhere to be seen.

After Ranma had finished his meal, he bowed to Kasumi and his Mother in thanks. Akane finished eating shortly afterwards and thanked the two chefs as well. Akane quickly head up to take a bath.

"Hey, Oyaji!"

The panda looked up at his son. "Yes, boy?"

"Wanna spar 'til Akane's done in the furo?"

The panda seemed to nod. "Bring it on, son."

In a flurry of blows the battle was engaged. Ranma was keeping his father on his toes, and Genma was redefining the meaning of sneakiness. Overall it was an interesting fight to watch, and the author would have described it had he known exactly how. Well , it was more of an uninteresting fight to watch, as the speed at which the blows happened were on the borderline of being too fast for sight. The spar ended when Genma was knocked into the koi pond.

"I was a panda already, boy!"

"Yeah, yeah Oyaji. I gotta go take a bath anyways, and I think Akane might be done by now."

Ranma's hunch proved true as Akane was walking to her room, covered up while Ranma was walking up the stairs. Ranma quickly had his soak and got dressed. However, he did not dress in his normal clothing, but rather a special kimono that he had modified to be flexible for fighting in. He walked out to find Akane dressed similarly with just the hint of makeup on.

"Wow Akane, you look err… not uncute, definitely not uncute."

"Why thank you, Ranma-kun."

"You are dressed ready to fight, right?"

Akane nodded and smiled. "I'm wearing the Kimono that Kasumi modified for me."

"Good, you may need it."

The pair then walked down the stairs where the fathers were playing shogi once more. They commented on the clothing, as did Nabiki, and the two remaining people said how nice they looked.

"So, Saotome, where are you taking my sister this time?"

Ranma simply replied, "Out."

"Out where?"

"Now wouldn't you like to know?"

Ranma scooped up Akane and jumped to the rooftops. As he hopped across the rooftops of Nerima he spoke with Akane.

"Why were you so short with Nabiki, Ranma?

"Well, I just didn't want her knowing where we were going."

"And, where exactly are we going?"

"Umm… I haven't thought of that yet."

Akane sweat dropped at that statement. Just then the couple heard some screams coming from the alley below them. The two leaped down to find a young woman being mugged by several masked men. Well, Ranma leaped down anyways; Akane was in his arms, and Ranma placed his fiancée on the ground next to him when he reached said ground.

"Well, lessee here, Akane, we got a few muggers."

"It seems we do, Ranma. Shall we show them what Martial Artists do to those who pick on the weak?"

"As long as you aren't hittin' me. I'm fine with that."

"Hitting you? Hmm… now there's a possibility."

"Later, tomboy, we got muggers to deal with."

Meanwhile, the leader of the muggers listened to the banter back and forth between the two well dressed teens who claimed to be martial artists. These two normally would be easy pickings for him and his men, but then, they did jump down from the rooftops. Nah, they couldn't have jumped down. They must have fallen. Then why weren't they hurt? They must be hiding the pain. But wouldn't that say that they truly are Martial Artists? No… just that they can take a little pain. Besides that roof wasn't so high, he could probably get down from it without hurting himself. He'd order his men to attack the two so that he could get away with their money.

No one ever said Muggers were smart. Especially if they mug people in Nerima. The mugger leader spoke up, "I don't care if you are martial artists, Attack Men!"

In retrospect, this wasn't the brightest idea that Seijiro Kuno had come up with as he and his men had their butts handed to them. The battle was over before it began, and Seijiro collapsed muttering, "I fight on…" 

Watching this scene from the Time Gates, Setsuna smirked. While it wasn't part of her job to stop muggers, the Kuno family had always grated on her nerves a little bit. Especially that Seijiro.

Ranma, with Akane in his arms, continued roof hopping until they reached the Nerima Multiplex. Tomobiki-cho was out of reach of the normal chaos of the Furinkan-cho section of the Nerima district, and perhaps Ranma could take Akane to the movies in peace. Fortunately the chaos of this section was centered around that Ataru kid.

"So, you planned to take me to the movies the whole time?" 

Ranma smirked with a twinkle in his eye. "Had ya fooled, didn't I?"

Akane nodded and smiled her little cute smile.

"So, what movie d'ya wanta see 'kane?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about that one?"

Ranma nodded and paid for the tickets. Luckily for Ranma the movie was peaceful. However, during the movie, certain events were set into motion.

"Tonight, my darling Ranma-sama, you will be mine! I will show that peasant Tendo the true power of a Kuno!" Leaping and bounding towards where she was informed Ranma was at, she laughed maniacally. "OH-HOHOHOHOHO! OH-HOHOHOHOHO!"

Meanwhile in Juuban…

"Kaori Nite, prepare the heart crystal extractor for a test run. We don't want to alert the Senshi to our plans yet, so go to Nerima." 

"Yes sir!"

The movie had ended, and the young couple was exiting the theater. They decided to stop at a café to have a drink and some snacks. Kodachi found them in the middle of sharing an ice cream sundae.

"OH-HOHOHOHOHOHO! You dare to share a frozen confection with my Ranma-sama! Poor peasant girl Tendo, you have neither the figure nor the grace to eat at the side of my darling."

Ranma continued eating and nodded to Akane. Akane grinned and cracked her knuckles.

"Oh yeah, Kodachi? I'll show you how much grace this 'peasant' has."

Akane began to methodically beat the Kuno girl into the ground. Kodachi fought back of course, but it was like comparing a mouse to a raging bull. Akane finished off the match with a cry of "Kodachi no Baka!" and sent the crazed gymnast flying into Low Earth Orbit.

Akane paused to admire her work as she heard clapping from behind her. She turned around to see her fiancé applauding her work.

"Nicely done, Akane. Very nicely done. Of course it shouldn't have taken you that long, but still, I knew you could beat her."

Akane paused at those words, and then rushed over to Ranma and gave him a hug that would put the Amazon Glomp to shame.

"Ack… Can't… Breathe… Need… Oxygen…" Ranma began to turn a little blue in the face.

"Oh, gomen ne, Ranma." Akane said as she released the hug. 

"Now where to next?"

The sound of a woman's scream came from an alley not more than three blocks away. Akane met Ranma's gaze. They nodded and ran off in the direction of the scream. What they saw in the alleyway was quite different than what was expected. They had expected more muggers or perhaps a rapist. What they didn't expect was a woman holding a strange sort of gun along with an unconscious person with a pink crystalline structure floating above their chest.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The woman examined the crystal before answering. "It's not pure, so we don't need it, but I must report that the test was a success." She looked up noticing Ranma and Akane. "Oh dear, it looks like I've been spotted. Well we'll just have to take care of that… TRASHCIA ARISE!" The woman threw what appeared to be a seed-like structure into the garbage cans before teleporting away. The trashcans began to stir, and then pull together to form a feminine monster.

Ranma smirked, though this creature looked female, it was in no way a girl, nor did it have any Ki. Then Ranma looked over at the pink crystal thingy. Ranma's eyes widened as he realized what that was.

"Akane, we have to get that pink thingy back into the woman. It has her Ki in it!"

Akane nodded. Trashcia had a different idea though. "To get the Heart Crystal you'll have to go through me. Garbage Barrage!" A bunch of trash bags began to be hurled at insane speeds towards the two martial artists.

"To prevent the saving of a life, this is something I cannot allow." Muttered Ranma. "Mouko Takabisha!" Ranma's ball of golden ki went sailing towards the Daimon, knocking it back a few feet, but not even denting it in the least. Ranma swore, and he began to engage the creature in melee combat. Akane joined him shortly afterwards. The two martial artists attacked the creatue with all of their might, punching the creature, resorting to kicks, and even mallet-sama to attempt to knock it out or out of the way. All of their efforts proved worthless when the monster showed no signs of weakening. It just stood there and took every blow into itself.

"Is that all?" Trashcia said with a smirk as she continued to be hit by the young couple. "I was expecting a challenge. Garbage Barrage!" This time, her attack hit both Ranma and Akane, sending them flying back away from the body of the Daimon.

On the ground, Akane struggled to get up, but failed miserably. Ranma wasn't faring much better. This fight was taking more energy out of him than any of his fights before, even the one with Saffron. He was losing his energy too quickly, it must be something to do with why his ki wasn't affecting the creature. This thing seemed to be like Hinako.

Trashcia approached the downed martial artists. She cackled madly as she did so. Now she could destroy the only opposition to her shattering this heart crystal and absorbing its energy. She began to prepare her ultimate attack.

"Now, you two, I shall enjoy snacking on your bones…"

Two words seemed to echo throughout the alley, no matter how quiet they were said. Those words were "Dead Scream."

A bolt of energy struck the Daimon, knocking her into the alley's back wall. The Daimon groaned. "Look at all the pretty colors…"

Ranma struggled to his feet and over to the heart crystal. He put his hand on it and pushed it into the body of the unconscious woman. Shortly afterwards, the woman woke up. "Thank you."

Ranma groaned. "Don't thank me yet, now Run!"

From behind him, he heard a voice confirming his order. "Yes Girl, run." The voice came from a woman with green hair, holding a staff. The woman had crimson eyes and was dressed in a Seifuku just as the Sailor Senshi were. The other woman, whom he had saved ran off.

Sailor Pluto was busy helping Akane regain her footing.

"Not that I mind, but why did you save us, miss?"

"Because it needed to be done."

Ranma and Akane arched their eyebrows at that. Suddenly they heard stirring from the back of the alley. Trashcia still lived! Pluto's eyes narrowed.

"Quickly you two, take these rods, raise them above your head and say the first thing that comes into your mind!" After handing Ranma the henshin rod, she splashed him with water. Ranma didn't have time to think about that as she was following what Pluto had said.

"Uranus Planet Power, Make UP!"

"Neptune Planet Power, Make UP!"

Lights began to shine around both Ranma and Akane. Ranma grew about six inches taller and her hair turned dishwater blonde. The pigtail came undone and her hair waved freely behind her. It slowly shortened to a pageboy cut and the fuku came upon her in that instant. Her face had make-up placed upon it, she was in the fuku of Sailor Uranus.

Akane's hair flashed blue-green as her fuku formed around her body. Her hair lengthened down to her mid-back, and her face had make-up covering it; she was in the fuku of Sailor Neptune.

The two new Senshi posed as their transformations finished before glancing over to Pluto.

"What the hell did you do to us?" Uranus asked.

"I unlocked your destiny. Now we have a monster to deal with, explanations will come later."

Trashcia had gotten near the group once more and called out her attack: "Garbage Barrage!" The trash bags were easily dodged by the three Senshi.

"Neptune, Uranus, hit him hard, I'll help. Dead Scream." The wave of energy went out from Pluto to hit the Daimon.

Uranus didn't know what was going on, but somehow she felt that she could defeat this thing now. She had two words repeating in her mind along with poses to do with it. She decided to act upon these notions. "World Shaking!" She threw her arms at the Daimon, and a ball of orange energy in the shape of the planet Uranus drove through the ground at the creature.

Neptune, after watching Uranus do her attack knew that she could do something too. After all, if Ranma could do it, why couldn't she? Neptune called out her attack shortly afterwards. "Deep Submerge!" The watery attack hit the Daimon into the wall.

Neptune and Uranus gave each other a high five and a kiss. Sailor Pluto wasn't fooled though. "Trashcia isn't defeated yet."

Sure enough, the Daimon had staggered out of the wall once more.

Uranus asked, "Do we have ta' kill it?"

Pluto nodded. "It's a monster, created only to destroy you and Neptune. Especially Neptune."

Uranus needed no more prodding. No one threatened Akane and got away with it. If this monster needed to die so Akane could be protected, then it would die, just like Saffron.

"I don't know if this is going to work, but here goes…" Uranus was glowing as she brought her aura to the visible spectrum. She went through the motions required to cast World Shaking. "Now die, you beast! World Shaking revised: Dire Strike!" The energy released from this attack was similar to the world shaking in shape only. The size of the blast was at least ten times that of her basic attack, and the color was a mixture of both the orange energy of the Senshi magic, and the normal bluish-yellow of her confidence aura. The attack was large enough that it consumed the Daimon, causing it to disintegrate, leaving naught but a broken crystal.

Uranus fell to the ground and transformed back into Ranma-chan, with two slight differences, Ranma-chan was an inch taller than she was, and her hair was a bit lighter. Akane de-transformed from Sailor Neptune shortly afterwards and ran over to her fiancée's side. Ranma climbed to her feet before turning on Sailor Pluto.

"Now you… you owe us an explanation…"

(End Chapter 1: The Outer Senshi)  
Author's ending notes. I actually intended this chapter to be a bit longer, but I'd say it's long enough wouldn't you? ;-P Anyways, the next chapter should be fun, but you may have to wait a while before its release, I have a few other fics to work on as well. Plus I keep getting distracted by school and other stuff. (Other stuff being games) As always, you can reach me at for any CC. Wow, 25 pages in word, and I wanted it to be longer! Any reviews are welcome! Flames, well they're reviews too!


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